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<h1><a name="SECTION00151000000000000000000">
13.10 <tt class="module">dbhash</tt> --
         DBM-style interface to the BSD database library</a>
</h1>

<p>
<a name="module-dbhash"></a>

<p>
The <tt class="module">dbhash</tt> module provides a function to open databases using
the BSD <code>db</code> library.  This module mirrors the interface of the
other Python database modules that provide access to DBM-style
databases.  The <tt class="module"><a href="module-bsddb.html">bsddb</a></tt><a id='l2h-2527' xml:id='l2h-2527'></a> module is required 
to use <tt class="module">dbhash</tt>.

<p>
This module provides an exception and a function:

<p>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span>&nbsp;<tt id='l2h-2525' xml:id='l2h-2525' class="exception">error</tt></b></dt>
<dd>
  Exception raised on database errors other than
  <tt class="exception">KeyError</tt>.  It is a synonym for <tt class="exception">bsddb.error</tt>.
</dd></dl>

<p>
<dl><dt><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr valign="baseline">
  <td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-2526' xml:id='l2h-2526' class="function">open</tt></b>(</nobr></td>
  <td><var>path</var><big>[</big><var>, flag</var><big>[</big><var>, mode</var><big>]</big><var></var><big>]</big><var></var>)</td></tr></table></dt>
<dd>
  Open a <code>db</code> database and return the database object.  The
  <var>path</var> argument is the name of the database file.

<p>
The <var>flag</var> argument can be
  <code>'r'</code> (the default), <code>'w'</code>,
  <code>'c'</code> (which creates the database if it doesn't exist), or
  <code>'n'</code> (which always creates a new empty database).
  For platforms on which the BSD <code>db</code> library supports locking,
  an "<tt class="character">l</tt>" can be appended to indicate that locking should be
  used.

<p>
The optional <var>mode</var> parameter is used to indicate the <span class="Unix">Unix</span>
  permission bits that should be set if a new database must be
  created; this will be masked by the current umask value for the
  process.
</dl>

<p>
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  <p class="heading">See Also:</p>

  <dl compact="compact" class="seemodule">
    <dt>Module <b><tt class="module"><a href="module-anydbm.html">anydbm</a></tt>:</b>
    <dd>Generic interface to <code>dbm</code>-style databases.
  </dl>
  <dl compact="compact" class="seemodule">
    <dt>Module <b><tt class="module"><a href="module-bsddb.html">bsddb</a></tt>:</b>
    <dd>Lower-level interface to the BSD <code>db</code> library.
  </dl>
  <dl compact="compact" class="seemodule">
    <dt>Module <b><tt class="module"><a href="module-whichdb.html">whichdb</a></tt>:</b>
    <dd>Utility module used to determine the type of an
                      existing database.
  </dl>
</div>

<p>

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